Gallery driving machine with radially movable roller drills



June 11, 1968 P. HOEVER 3,387,893

GALLERY DRIVING MACHINE WITH RADIALLY MOVABLE ROLLER DRILLS Filed March 24, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

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3 337 893 GALLERY DRIVENG Ii dAHiNE WITH RADIALLY hlGVAEl-ZE RQLLER DRILLS Fan! Hoever, Krefeld, Germany, assignor to Beteiligungsand Patentverwaitungsgeselischaft mit beschrankter Haftung, ssen, Germany Filed Mar. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 537,133 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 27, 1965, R 81,196 3 Claims. (Cl. 2Q9--60) The present invention relates to a gallery driving machine adapted to drive a central pre-drilling bore which then by means of roller drills rotatably arranged on supports and rotatable with said supports about the longitudinal axis of the machine is stepwise widened to the desired cross section of the gallery to be driven.

A mach ne of this type is known in which the roller drills are pressed in driving direction against the breast of the working. The forward driving forces, which have to be extremely high in order to enable the roller drills to smash the rocks and to assure a satisfactory feed, are produced by the machine pressing on the timbering or walling of the gallery in a direction opposite to the direction of the forward driving operation. The said timbering or walling has to be correspondingly strong. In order to obtain a uniform forward drive, it is additionally necessary during the operation to continue the construction of timbering in forward driving direction so that the supporting elements will always be able to find the necessary support. In this connection it is difficult to transport the individual parts of the timbering past the supporting elements and to connect the new timbering to the front end of the installed timbering. if the forward driving force were furnished by a track laying driving mechanism supporting the gallery driving machine, as it is known with certain gallery driving machines, a timbering or walling would not be necessary. However, the relatively low driving force would permit an insufficient feed only.

It is, therefore, an object of the present inention to provide a gallery driving machine which will overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.

It is another object of this invention to provide a gallery driving machine which in forward driving direction will require only a rather low force, namely for driving the pro-drilling bore.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a side view of a drilling device of a gallery driving machine according to the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates on a smaller scale than that of FIG. 1 an end view of FIG. 1 as seen in the direction of the arrow Aof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is the section along line III-III in FIG. 1 supplemented by the illustration of a regulating device.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the whole machine.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are end views of alternated drilling devices.

The gallery driving machine according to the present invention, which is adapted to drive a central pro-drilling bore and stepwise to widen the same to the desired gallery cross section by means of roller drills rotatably connected to roller drill supports and rotatable therewith about the longitudinal axis of the machine, is characterized primarily by means for effecting a feed or advance of the roller drills in a radial direction with regard to the axis of the machine and in a direction toward the outside. An arrange ment of this type will assure that only low forces are required in forward driving direction, namely the forces necessary for producing the pro-drilling bore.

German Auslegeschrift 1,098,472 discloses an arrangement according to which for purposes of driving a gallery States Patent 0 ice by means of rotating drilling heads, narrow concentric cuts are effected in the breast of the working, and annular parts remaining standing between said cuts are removed by core-crushing rollers which follow the cutters producing the cuts. The drilling head is subdivided into a circular inner disc and an outer ring which disc and ring are rotated in opposite direction with regard to each other about a common axis so that the torque exerted upon the machine body will be balanced. With a gallery driving machine according to the invention, it is also possible to rotate at least two roller drill supports at different distances from the longitudinal axis of the machine in a direction opposite to each other and about the longitudinal axis of the machine, while advantageously the roller drills having a shorter distance from the longitudinal axis of the machine are in forward driving direction arranged ahead of the roller drills having a greater distance from the longitudinal axis of the machine.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the arrangement shown therein comprises a drum 1 arranged at that end face of a gallery driving machine which faces the rocks or gangue to be worked. Drum 1 is driven by a motor 19 (FIG. 4) and provided with a plurality of roller drill supports 2, 3, 4 and 5, each of which is provided with two roller drills 30. Drum 1 is in forward direction preceded by a smaller drum 6 which is substantially coaxial with drum 1 and driven by a motor 20. Drum 6 has roller drill supports '7, S, 9 and 16, each of which is provided with two roller drills 31. The roller drill supports respectively associated with said two drums 1 and 6 are each arranged in oppositely located pairs with regard to the longitudinal axis of the machine and are adapted by means of hydraulically operable power motors 11, 12 to be displaced along the respective connecting lines intersecting the longitudinal axis of the machine. For purposes of clarity, FIG. 1 does not show the roller drill supports which in viewing direction are located in front of drums 1, 6. Rotatably journalled on the roller drill supports 2 to 5 and 7 to 10 are roller drills 3G, 31 respectively with annular teeth. These roller drills are arranged along the contour of a cone which tapers in forward driving direction, and the axes of rotation of said roller drills are inclined with regard to the longitudinal axis of the machine in such a way that when looking in forward driving direction, they intersect the longitudinal axis of the machine ahead of the gallery driving machine. Shaft means 13 pass centrally through drum 6 and serve for driving a cutter head 14 which by means of roller drills 15 drives a pro-drilling bore 16. Shaft means 13 is driven by a motor 13 at the rear end of the machine and advanced by a motor 17 (FIG. 4).

When driving a gallery, a tunnel, a mine shaft or the like, the pre-drilled bore 16 is by the roller drills 30, 31 equipped with annular teeth widened to the desired gallery cross section. To this end, the roller drill supports are first moved toward the longitudinal axis of the machine. After the entire gallery driving machine has been advanced in forward driving direction by means of caterpillar chassis 49 (FIG. 4), the roller drill supports which rotate together with drums 1, 6 about the longitudinal axis of the machine are pressed radially outwardly by power motors 11 and 12. The roller drills 30, 31 with their annular teeth roll on the rock and stepwise widen the gallery cross section. When the roller drill supports have reached their outermost positions, they are again moved inwardly and the gallery driving machine is again advanced in driving direction. The stepwise advancing distance may, if desired, be greater than the width of a roller drill 30, 31 so that by undercutting the gangue, the spitting off of larger rock sections will be assured.

Drums 1 and 6 are advantageously driven by motors 19 and 20 respectively in opposite direction with regard to each other to balance the large torques which are necessary for driving the drums. See arrows in FIGS. 2, 5, 6 and 7. In these circumstances, it is no longer necessary to safeguard the gallery driving machine against rotation about its longitudinal axis, a step which heretofore has been necessary by supporting the wall of the gallery. The pre-drill 14 may also be employed for compensating or balancing the torques.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular arrangement set forth above but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims. Thus, in contrast to the specific showing in FIGS. 1 and 2, according to which four roller drill supports 2, 3, 4, and 7, 8, 9, 10 are arranged on one drum 1 and 6 respectively it is also possible instead to provide 2, 3, 5 or more roller drill supports on one drum; see FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. However, the roller drill supports are each time to be distributed in such a way that the forces acting in radial direction will balance each other. Furthermore, more than two rings of roller drill supports may be provided. These rings may also carry different numbers of roller drills. Advantageously, the drive is so elfected that the driving torques will always balance each other.

It is also advantageous, similar to the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, so to locate the roller drills that while their supports are equally spaced from the longitudinal axis of the machine, the roller drills are differently spaced from the longitudinal axis of the machine. With such an arrangement, the roller drill supports have to be adjusted in radial direction by correspondingly small distances only.

The outward movement of the roller drill supports may also be effected automatically in conformity with the rotary movements of the drums. For example, this will be done by means of a cam disc 21 driven by shaft 13 (FIG. 3). Cam disc 21 is engaged by a roller 22 on the rod 23 of a piston 24 movable in a cylinder 25. A pipe 26 from a source of high pressure oil is connected to cylinder 25 at its center portion. The upper and lower ends of cylinder 25 are connected to the upper and lower ends of cylinder 11 by means of pipes 27, 28 respectively. FIG. 3 shows sector '32 of cam disc cooperating with roller 22. Thus oil under pressure is led through pipes 26 and 28 to the lower ends of cylinders 11 and roller drill supports 2, 3 are driven outwardly. When sector 33 of cam disc 21 cooperates with roller 22, piston 24 is lowered and oil under pressure is led through pipes 26, 27 to the upper ends of cylinders 11; thus roller drill supports 2, 3 are moved inwardly. When sector 34 of cam disc 21 cooperates with roller 22, roller drill supports 2, 3 stand still.

It is also possible to cause a uniform outwardly directed pressure to act upon the roller drill supports until the latter have reached their outermost end positions.

While the advance of the widening roller drills may be efiected only stepwise, the central pre-drilling bore 16 is advantageously produced by a continuous advance. For this purpose only a low driving force is required which can be produced in a simple manner by motor 17. On the other hand, such an arrangement in combination with the lighter machine construction made possible in view of the lower forces to be conveyed in longitudinal direction, will be highly favorable with regard to the ability of maneuvering the gallery driving machine.

What I claim is:

1. An excavation driving machine, especially for driving galleries, tunnels, and mine shafts, which includes rotatable shaft means, advance borehole drilling means r0- tatably connected to said shaft means for drilling an advance borehole, rotatable supporting means extending around said shaft means in substantially coaxial relationship thereto and adapted rotatably to support roller drills for enlarging by movement in radial direction the advance borehole drilled by said advance borehole drilling means, and means operatively connected to said supporting means and operable to displace said supporting means and roller drills supported thereby in radial direction with regard to the longitudinal axis of said shaft means.

2. A machine according to claim 1, in which said rotatable supporting means includes at least two roller drill supporting structures respectively differently spaced in radial direction from the axis of rotation of said shaft means, and means rotatably connected to said supporting structures and operable to rotate the same in opposite directions with regard to each other about the axis of rotation of said shaft means.

3. An excavation driving machine, especially for driving galleries, tunnels, and mine shafts, which includes rotatable shaft means, advance borehole drilling means rotatably connected to said shaft means for drilling an advance borehole, rotatable supporting means extending around said shaft means in substantially coaxial relationship thereto and adapted rotatably to support roller drills for enlarging an advance borehole drilled by said advance borehole drilling means, said supporting means including a first rotatable drum arrangement adjacent said advance borehole drilling means and also including a second rotatable drum substantially coaxial with said first drum and arranged behind the latter when looking in the direction from said advance borehole drilling means toward said firstdrum,

each of said drums comprising radially displaceable sections adapted to rotatably support roller drills, and two groups of fluid pressure operable actuating means respectively operatively connected to said radially displaceable sections of said first and second drums for radially displacing the respective sections pertaining thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,758,825 8/1956 Wohlmeyer 29986 X 2,998,964 9/1961 Morlan 299-6l X 3,288,532 11/1966 Carver 299-86 X FOREIGN PATENTS 160,133 3/1964 U.S.S.R. 163,568 8/1964 U.S.S.R.

ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN EXCAVATION DRIVING MACHINE, ESPECIALLY FOR DRIVING GALLERIES, TUNNELS, AND MINE SHAFTS, WHICH INCLUDES ROTATABLE SHAFT MEANS, ADVANCE BOREHOLE DRILLING MEANS ROTATABLY CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT MEANS FOR DRILLING AN ADVANCE BOREHOLE, ROTATABLE SUPPORTING MEANS EXTENDING AROUND SAID SHAFT MEANS IN SUBSTANTIALLY COAXIAL RELATIONSHIP THERETO AND ADAPTED ROTATABLY TO SUPPORT ROLLER DRILLS FOR ENLARGING BY MOVEMENT IN RADIAL DIRECTION THE ADVANCE BOREHOLE DRILLED BY SAID ADVANCE BOREHOLE DRILLING MEANS, AND MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID SUPPORTING MEANS AND OPERABLE TO DISPLACE SAID SUPPORTING MEANS AND ROLLER DRILLS SUPPORTED THEREBY IN RADIAL DIRECTION WITH REGARD TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID SHAFT MEANS. 